Oh Sherrie
by kclaura2003
Summary: Sherrie Christian, a waitress at The Bourbon Room, meets rock god Stacee Jaxx in a chance encounter. What she doesn't know is how smitten he becomes with her. Meanwhile, Sherrie meets a guitarist named Drew with whom she has a lot in common with. Who will she choose? Based off 2012 film. Rated T for some language.
1. Paradise City

Chapter One: Paradise City

Stacee Jaxx could pick her out of a crowd of thousands. He paid no mind to the pack of screaming and swooning girls in the front row, licking their lips and undressing him with their lusty eyes. Well, he paid some attention to them. After all, it was part of the show to bring a girl up on stage and let her dance suggestively around him until security eventually would come and drag her off. After all, that's what they wanted right? He was not only their rock god but a sweaty tattooed sex symbol. Since so many conservatives, like that Patricia Whitmore, thought of him to be the devil incarnated he figured being a sex symbol wasn't so bad. After all, sex is not as bad as the devil. Hell, sex is natural. Sex can be a beautiful thing, yes indeed. Although for the last few years, Stacee felt like it had become a chore. Sure, he had always enjoyed the ladies and they always make it pretty clear they enjoy him. Why not take advantage of that? He was living every teenage boy's fantasy. But it was all just going through the motions for him. Nothing or no one excited him anymore. Not even the thousands cheering for him right now. Not even all the scantily clad beauties clamoring for his attention. Well, there was one person who generated some excitement to him. He could spot her all the way in the back of The Bourbon Room standing next to Dennis and Lonny bobbing her head along with the ear-shattering music. Her right arm was raised and her fingers made the devil horns gesture.

Stacee could tell she was a true music fan. She wasn't just some poser trying to look cool or some girl out to impress her boyfriend. She was really into the music and it showed with the way her eyes were closed and she was singing along with every word.

_What is her name again? Susan? Sharon? Sherrie? Sherrie. Yeah, that's it. It's Sherrie._

"HOW DO YOU FEEL TONIGHT, LOS ANGELES?" Stacee shouted into the microphone. The crowd went wild. The Bourbon Room wasn't exactly a stadium sized venue and all the music and shouting and bass from the amplifiers made the place vibrate. Stacee loved playing here because of that. He secretly hoped someday he would play so loud the speakers blew out and all the walls came tumbling down although Dennis and Lonny would have a bone to pick with him.

Stacee strode up and down the stage and worked the audience while the band kept playing. "I HOPE Y'ALL ARE HAVING A GOOD TIME TONIGHT! AND IF YOU AREN'T, THEN THIS NEXT ONE WILL PUT YOU A GOOD MOOD. COME ON!" Clapping his hands and stomping his feet he began to sing, "Take me down to the paradise city where the grass is green and the girls are pretty/Oh, won't you please take me home?"

**Tell me what y'all think! :) **

**I do not own Rock of Ages or any of the characters; only original character so far is Mary Beth and members of The Warriors except for Drew. Also, I will give credit to the song lyrics I use throughout this story. I'll keep updating as I go along:**

**"Paradise City" by Guns N Roses**

**"Keep On Lovin' You" by REO Speedwagon**

**"I Love Rock N' Roll" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts**

**"Heartbreaker" by Pat Benatar**


	2. Star Struck

Chapter Two: Star Struck

The night before the show, Sherrie Christian was wiping down the bar. She was helping Dennis and Lonny get ready to host the Arsenal gig. She smiled to herself as she scrubbed on a particular stubborn spot. It was only a few months ago she arrived to L.A. on a Greyhound bus from her tiny town in Oklahoma. She remembered how awe struck she was the moment she set foot on the Sunset Strip. Taking in all the lights, cluttered billboards and the famous landmarks like The Whiskey and Tower Records made her head spin. She couldn't believe she was finally here!

Now here she was working in one of the hottest clubs in town and going to see one of her favorite bands play. Sherrie was humming to herself when the sound of the doorbell made her jump. It was one of those really loud obnoxious rings and it always caught her off guard.

"Oh, who can that be?" whined Lonny in his English accent as he continued stacking the chairs together. Dennis, the general manager, frowned as glanced up from doing his nightly inventory. It was obvious he wasn't expecting anyone either.

"I hope it's not those damn delivery boys." Dennis said. "I told them no deliveries after 2 p.m. But do they listen? No!" He shook his head as if he was the most disrespected person on the earth.

"Come on, Lonny," Dennis got up and motioned to his assistant to follow him. "Let's go see who this ass clown is."

As they were walking to the back, Sherrie heard Dennis call over his shoulder: "Sherrie, hold down the fort for a sec, will ya? We'll be back in a minute."

"OK!" Sherrie yelled back but wasn't sure if he heard her. She listened as she heard the two men's voices fade as they disappeared to the back room. She was about to continue cleaning the bar when she paused. She glanced up and took in the sight of the empty Bourbon Room. This time tomorrow the place will be packed, the walls will be shaking, and people will going out of their freaking minds at the sight of Arsenal and front man Stacee Jaxx. _And it will be…AWESOME! _Sherrie grinned at the thought.

She was bored with wiping the bar so she grabbed the broom that was propped up in the corner and began sweeping the floor. As she worked she started to hum again and since there was no one around she hummed a little louder. She could barely contain her excitement. Things were looking up for her.

Soon, Sherrie found herself singing out loud but she didn't care. She forgot all about her surroundings when she held the broom like it was a microphone stand and belted out, "And I'm gonna keep on loving you/Cause it's the only thing I wanna do/ I don't wanna sleep/ I just wanna keep on loving you!"

Sherrie pretended she was on stage entertaining the masses as she went into the next verse: "And I meant every word I said/ When I said that I love you/I meant that I love you foreverrrrrrrrrrrrr! And I'm gonna keep on loving you/ Cause it's the only thing I wanna do/I don't wanna sleep…" She trailed off as soon as she realized a male voice was singing along with her. _Oh crap, it's Dennis and Lonny! They'll have a field day with this. They'll never let me live it down! _

But that voice. It couldn't be Dennis or Lonny. It sounded so familiar, so professional, and so sexy. She froze in her place too nervous and embarrassed to turn around.

"Aw, why did you stop?" That was Lonny teasing her. "We were enjoying the show." he laughed.

Slowly, Sherrie spun around. She didn't know what hit the floor first, the broom or her jaw. There was Dennis and Lonny, all right. Dennis with his arms crossed with a visibly annoyed expression but it was unclear if he was irritated with her, Lonny, or the whole situation at hand. To his right there was Lonny, smirking wildly trying not to burst out laughing. But standing front and center there was Stacee Jaxx. _The_ Stacee Jaxx watching her with curious eyes underneath his aviator sunglasses and a warm smile. He wore a long fur coat, despite it being the middle of June, and various chains and beaded necklaces around his neck. Although standing in the dim light of The Bourbon Room, Sherrie could tell he was shirtless but could only see a glimpse on the tattoos on his pectoral muscles and the two six shooters on his abdomen that disappeared into his leather pants. His head was crowned with his signature black velvet cowboy hat.

Stacee took a few painfully slow steps toward Sherrie. His eyes never broke their hold on her. She felt like a tiny mouse trapped in a corner and the big kitty cat was closing in fast. Only, Stacee Jaxx wasn't a tame little housecat. He was more like a lion or a tiger.

She would hate to see what she looked like during this moment. She was sure she probably looked ridiculously star struck and beet red in the face. She could feel how big her eyes had widened but couldn't make them close. She felt paralyzed all over her body. She didn't even realize she had been holding her breath until Stacee was right in front of her and put his ring-clad hand on her chest. She let out a huge gasp that seemed to echo in the empty club and she instantly felt like dying of humiliation.

"You have a very nice…" Stacee said as he eyed her up and down. "A very nice voice." He finished. He smiled lasciviously as he dropped his hand from her chest. A shudder went through Sherrie. _Oh my god. I just got felt up by Stacee Jaxx! Stacee freaking Jaxx! _Then Sherrie mentally told herself to get a grip. _Well, I guess I could join the club with the thousands of other girls he's done that to. But still, HOLY CRAP!_

Stacee extended his hand for her to shake. "Hi, I'm Stacee." He introduced himself as if he was just some regular Joe Blow off the street but it didn't sound like some false humility. She took his hand and managed to give it a little shake.

"I'm…I'm…I'm," Sherrie stuttered like a fool. She tried to control herself but couldn't. Why couldn't she speak?

"Her name is Sherrie and she knows who you are, man." Lonny stepped forward and slapped Stacee on the back as if they were good friends. "I mean, like who doesn't know who you are?" he added mostly to himself. Stacee exchanged a smile with Lonny and looked back at Sherrie again.

"I'm…I'm Sherrie" She finally answered. She let out a deep breath. Lonny made a fake surprised look and teased, "Oh, look! She finally remembered her name! See what you do to the ladies, Stacee?" _Damn you, Lonny. As if I already don't feel like the biggest dope in the world. _

Stacee and Lonny exchanged a few laughs and Dennis finally stepped forward.

"OK, knock it off, Lonny." Dennis said. He turned to Stacee and said, "Come on, man. If you wanna rehearse right quick, you can. Ain't nobody here but the three of us."

Stacee was already shaking his head before Dennis could finish his sentence.

"Nah, I gotta get back to the hotel." Stacee answered. "But you know me, I had to drop by and say hello to my favorite club owner. I may not be able to tomorrow."

Dennis smiled and patted the rock star's back and began to lead him away. "We have been looking forward to having you play here again. It's gonna be great! The show is sold out and…" Dennis rattled on about all the arrangements for the show as he and Stacee retreated to the back room. All Sherrie could do was stand there and stare. Lonny watched her in amusement. He waved his hand in front of her face as if to wake her up from a hypnosis.

"You whoo! Hey! Hey, Sherrie!" Lonny began snapping his fingers right under her nose. "Earth to Sherrie!" He called out as he resorted to gently shaking her shoulders. Sherrie just stood there and let him shake her back and forth.

"Stacee…Stacee…Stacee Jaxx." she whispered. "Oh my god, I can't believe it! Stacee Jaxx!"

Lonny let go of her shoulders as soon as she started to speak.

"Well, you better believe it, my dear." He told her matter-of-factly. "You better get used to it cause you hang around long enough with us you gonna see a lot more famous faces."

Sherrie was still in a trance. She heard Lonny say something to her but didn't know what it was. All she could think about was how Stacee Jaxx stood right in front of her. He had sung along with her. He told her she has a "nice voice." He had introduced himself to her as if she was of any importance. He had put his hand on her chest for goodness sake!

Lonny looked at Sherrie as if she was one of the many freaks that lived out on the Strip. His mouth formed an O as he watched Sherrie's eyes roll up into the back of her head.

"Sherrie? Sherrie? Sherrie!" He cried. She could hear his voice but the world seem to spin and then everything went black.


	3. Girl Talk

Chapter Three: Girl Talk

"Are you serious, girl? He walked up and _grabbed_ your boobs?" Mary Beth, Sherrie's roommate asked indignantly. She stared at Sherrie in disbelief with her mouth open. Sherrie giggled and rolled her eyes at her roommate.

"He didn't _grab _my boobs, Mary Beth." Sherrie corrected. "He just kind came up and…put his hand on one of them." Sherrie blushed at the memory. The two girls were sitting in their studio apartment in West Hollywood.

"Oh, honey. I might make a living taking my clothes off every night but it's always look-y no touchy." Mary Beth huffed. "I would have slapped him into next year! Stacee Jaxx or not!"

Sherrie laughed and shook her head. "Oh, please!" she waved off her roommate's comment. "No, you wouldn't have. You would have loved every second of it!"

Mary Beth smiled deviously. "Yeah, you're right." She admitted. "I probably would have let him feel up the other one among other things!" The two girls giggled wildly.

"Besides, what could I have done?" Sherrie asked in between laughter. "I mean, there he was right in front of me! I swear I was like frozen. I couldn't speak or move or…nothing. He saw me acting like a dork with that broom and so did Dennis and Lonny." Sherrie paused and took a sip of water.

"Not that I really care what Dennis and Lonny think, but still." she added. "It was kind of embarrassing. And stupid old Lonny had to rub it all in!" Sherrie began to mock the assistant manager's accent. "Oh, look! She finally remembers her name. See what you do to the ladies, Stacee?" Sherrie rolled her eyes at recalling Lonny's teasing.

Mary Beth took a swig from her beer bottle. "It's a good thing he caught you when you fainted." she commented appreciatively.

Sherrie still couldn't believed she had actually fainted. She had never fainted before in her life. It was a good thing Lonny had been standing there when it happened otherwise Sherrie knew she would have a nice bump on her forehead. Lonny had carried her over to the bar and doused her with the water hose from the sink. This caused her to wake up panicking and flopping her arms wildly she knocked over a few bottles of vodka. All the commotion made Dennis run in and shout "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN HERE?"

Dennis then saw Sherrie's condition and that she looked like she was about pass out again and he instantly calmed himself and told Sherrie to "just lay back down on the bar, bend your knees and don't move for awhile." She could hear him grilling Lonny about what happened and why on earth did he feel the need to spray her with the water hose?

"I'm sorry, sir," Lonny said. "I just kind of freaked out and thought the water would wake her up."

Dennis sighed and rubbed his temples. "Lonny, oh Lonny…" he whispered. It seemed the bar manager had about enough for the night. "Don't you think that was a _little_ bit extreme?" he asked.

Lonny shrugged. "Well, yeah, I guess it was. But you know me, man. I'm always _extreme_!"

"OK, here's what were gonna do, OK?" Dennis said, holding up his hands, clearly not in the mood for jokes. "We're gonna get this mess cleaned up and we're gonna take her home, all right? Sherrie? Sherrie?" Dennis put his hand on her forehead and stroked back some of her blonde hair.

Sherrie looked up into Dennis' concerned hazel eyes. "Yeah?" she breathed. Dennis let out a sigh of relief.

"You don't need us call 911, do you? Are you OK?" he asked. Sherrie nodded. Dennis and Lonny then put her Dennis' Ford escort and drove her to her 6th street apartment. Dennis called Mary Beth, who works under the stage name "Sugar" at an upscale gentleman's club named The Venus Club , and begged the manager to let her go early. The Venus Club was run by a woman named Justice, although if that was her real name, nobody knew. However, she did embody her name and cared about her dancers and said it was OK. They just had to come and pick up Mary Beth, a.k.a. "Sugar."

Sherrie recovered just fine. She felt a little bit guilty about all the hassle she caused. She now rattled her glass of water in her hand making the ice cubes swirl around and tinkle. She was still somewhat damp from the water Lonny sprayed on her. _Crazy ass Lonny. _She thought but then gratitude came over her.

"Yeah, I'm glad he was there to catch me too." Sherrie agreed. A few moments of silence passed before Mary Beth spoke.

"Do you think you'll see Stacee Jaxx again?" she asked anxiously.

"Well," answered Sherrie. "He is playing there tomorrow night but I doubt I'll ever come that close to him again." The thought made her a little bit sad. It was the coolest thing to ever happen to her and now the moment had passed; gone forever. And she had made a fool out of herself too.

Mary Beth looked as disappointed as Sherrie and seemed to be deep in thought for awhile. Sherrie could tell the gears in Mary Beth's mind were cranking away trying to come up with an idea. Sherrie's knew she was right when Mary Beth snapped her head up and gave Sherrie a wide smile.

"Hey, I know what you could do," Mary Beth began cunningly. "You could sneak back stage! Yeah, you should totally do that! Just sneak back there and pretending your working and maybe you'll get to see him again. And then once you're back there…"

"Oh, no!" Sherrie cut Mary Beth off before she could go any further. "No, no, no! No way, Jose." She held up a hand in protest and shook her head but Mary Beth wasn't listening.

"No wait, Sherrie! Just listen. You could do this…" Mary Beth pleaded but Sherrie wasn't having any of it.

"No way, Mary Beth." Sherrie said. She counted on her fingers. "First of all, there's no way I'd be able to sneak pass the security. You know somebody like Stacee Jaxx and his band have got like a million bodyguards. Second of all, I'm there to work. If Dennis found out I'd be out of a job so fast it makes my head spin to think about it. And last of all," Sherrie held up three fingers. "There's no way I'd do something like that. I ain't no hoochie mama groupie! What kind of girl do you think I am?"

Mary Beth laughed at the third point although Sherrie glared at her in annoyance. She reached over and hit Mary Beth on the arm to which Mary Beth cried, "Hey, don't hit me, you bitch!" She laughed as she pinched Sherrie on the leg. "Ow, don't pinch me, you hooker!" Sherrie shot back and hit Mary Beth once more. The hitting and pinching continued while the girls kept laughing in between saying things like: "You hick!…You stripper!… You heffer!…You slut!…You bar wench!…You skank!…You prude!"

Soon they were out of breath and red in the face from all the laughing. "You know," Mary Beth said. "If we were normal girls we'd be so pissed off at each other right now. 'Cause you know, most chicks can't play fight like that without getting really, really mad."

Sherrie laughed and said, "Yeah, that's true. And I am not a prude by the way! I just carry myself with some dignity that's all."

"Yeah, I know, girl." Mary Beth said. "It's just, it sounds like to me…this is just my opinion, but I kind of think he liked what he saw. I think Mr. Jaxx wouldn't mind seeing _you _again."

Sherrie rolled her eyes and sighed. "No, Mary Beth. He was just…amused by the whole thing. And I'm sure he fakes interest in every girl he meets. You know, just to give 'em a little thrill."

Mary Beth let out a loud yawned and stretched her arms in the air. "He said you have a nice voice, right? And he was singing along with you. Well, I don't know…I wasn't there but I sure as hell wish I had been. Oh well. At least you'll always have a cool memory. Maybe one day you could tell your kids: 'Once upon a time Stacee Jaxx felt up Mommy's boob!'" She laughed as she got up and began heading toward her mattress. "Well, I'm off to bed. Night, night."

"Night, night." Sherrie replied. She sat there at the counter for awhile. She pondered Mary Beth's words about Stacee actually being interested in her, Sherrie. _Nah. No way. He's probably forgotten all about me by now. And after tomorrow night he'll be on the road, in another city somewhere, and he'll have plenty of females to keep him company. Just treasure the memory like Mary Beth said. _And with those final thoughts, Sherrie got up, took her glass to the sink, and got ready for bed.


	4. Get It Together

Chapter Four: Get It Together

Sherrie was serving some shots to a table of four close to the bar when she overheard Dennis yelling at Lonny. He was yelling to be heard over the music of the band playing on stage. They called themselves The Warriors and they were about average. None of the patrons of The Bourbon Room really cared what band played as long as they played rock and roll and played it loud. "Lonny, man!" Sherrie heard Dennis say. "Lonny, guess what? The Arsenal show was such a big success that Stacee's manager just called me and booked another show!"

Sherrie froze. She tried to cancel out all the other noise as she strained to hear some more details.

"Aw, that's great, man!" Lonny answered as he continued mixing drinks and bobbing his head to the music.

"They'll be back here on the 30th! Friday night at 9 p.m.!" Dennis said. Sherrie's thoughts went wild. She hadn't thought about Stacee Jaxx or their meeting since he last played The Bourbon Room a month ago. It was an awesome show and she had rocked out thoroughly enjoying herself. She had gone on with her life, abandoning any thought that she might see him face to face again.

_Friday night on the 30__th__. 9 p.m. Oh my god. He's coming back! What if I do see him again? Oh knock it off, no you won't. If you do see him again it will be on stage and you will be yards away in the back row of this place…_

"Uh…waitress?" Sherrie's thoughts were interrupted by one of the patrons at the table. The four of them were staring at her with confusion. "Uh, here's your tip. We don't need anything else." A greasy guy gave her a dollar and a strange look. He exchanged a few whispered words with another guy next to him while the two women sitting there snickered and sneered at her.

"Thanks." She mumbled as she pocketed the dollar and skittered away. She almost bumped into another customer who cried out, "Hey, watch where you're going!"

She kept on walking rapidly, hoping Dennis didn't see her behavior. She didn't hear him or anyone else call out her name so she assumed she was safe. She glanced back and saw Dennis and Lonny still engaged in conversation. She tucked her serving tray under her arm and headed toward the kitchen. A blast of hot smoky air hit her face as she pushed her way through the floppy doors. The Bourbon Room was more bar than restaurant but it offered up some little things like sliders, fries, hot wings and the sort. Sherrie didn't know why she had come in the kitchen. She was supposed to only serve drinks but suddenly she couldn't think straight. Carlos, the kitchen manager, saw her and said, "Hey, come and get these wings out to table three!" Sherrie grabbed the wings, put them on her tray, and headed out the floppy doors again. As soon as she pushed them open, another server came barging in and ran right into Sherrie causing her to drop the wings everywhere.

"Jesus H. Christ!" the server guy cried. He glanced up at Carlos and asked with contempt in his voice; "What's _she_ doing in here? She doesn't serve the food; she does the drinks!"

Sherrie didn't stick around to listen to Carlos, the cranky server guy, or anyone else's response. As she pushed her way out of the doors she thought: _What the hell am I doing? What's wrong with me? _Sherrie glanced back to see if they were following her and suddenly she ran into a brick wall. Well, not exactly a brick wall. It was just Lonny standing there with his arms crossed and staring down at her; looking like he could kill her.

"What the hell are you doing? What's wrong with you?" He asked indignantly. When he saw she had no excuses to give him, Lonny continued with "Where have you been? I've had a shitload of drinks to get out and suddenly my server is nowhere to be found!"

"I'm sorry, Lonny" Sherrie stammered. "I'm sorry, so sorry. I'll go get those drinks right now, OK?" She began to turn back toward the bar but Lonny grabbed her arm.

"No." He said. "Don't worry your pretty little head about it. Dennis wants to see you in his office. Right. Now." Lonny demanded. Sherrie gulped. She searched Lonny's eyes for any kind of sign that everything was going to OK but there wasn't any. She had never seen easy going Lonny be so angry before. Sherrie trembled with fear inside as she made her way to the office. She would have knocked but Dennis wouldn't have heard it due to the noise. Sherrie reluctantly turned the knob slowly and carefully as if it might break off in her hand and the door would fall over and she would be responsible for yet another disaster.

She peeked into the dimly lit room and at first didn't see Dennis anywhere. She thought maybe she was off the hook until she heard a voice come from behind the office chair.

"Come on in, Sherrie." Dennis said. His voice sounded surprisingly calm. Sherrie slipped inside and closed the door softly behind her. Dennis turned around in his chair and offered her a seat. He smiled warmly at her and this threw her off guard. _What's going on? Is he gonna fire me? _

"Hi, Sherrie." Dennis said, greeting her as if he was really happy to see her. "How are you today?" He folded his hand together and rested them on his desk.

Sherrie fidgeted and answered weakly; "I'm…I'm good, Dennis." It came out sounding more like a question than a statement. _I'm freaking out, that's how I am!_

"Are you?" Dennis asked pointedly. "Are you good, Sherrie? Doesn't sound like it."

Sherrie opened her mouth to answer but realized this was a rhetorical question when Dennis continued.

"You seem to be a little…" He paused and titled his head and pretended to search for the right word. "A little…screwball today. Yeah, just a _wee bit _screwball. Wouldn't you say?" He narrowed his eyes. Now he was getting down to business.

Sherrie shifted nervously and nodded her head in reply.

Dennis sighed. "You see, Sherrie. I really like you. You're a good girl. You're a good worker. I'd _really_, _really_ hate to let you go. But you keep screwing up like this…it's gonna have to come to that, understand?"

Sherrie nodded. "Yes, sir. I understand."

Dennis considered her for moment and said "Is there anything on your mind? Anything bothering you?"

"No, sir." Sherrie replied but realized she must have answered too quickly because Dennis didn't look too convinced.

"How's your head? You still doing OK from that fainting spell?"

"Yes, I'm fine now."

"Good. Glad to hear it." A few moments of silences passed that seemed like an eternity. Sherrie could feel Dennis' eyes on her as if he was still deciding what to do with her.

"Um, should I get…get back to work now?" Sherrie asked.

Dennis shook his head. "No, my dear. Tell you what? Why don't you take the rest of the night off?"

Sherrie must have looked concerned because Dennis followed it up with, "Don't worry. It will be OK. Just go home and get it together, all right?" He rose slowly up out of his chair and showed her to the door.

"And get it together quickly." He told her as he put his hand on her shoulder. "Next Friday, Arsenal is coming back to play here again and I can't have you messing around, OK?" He smiled as he gently nudged her out the door and added with a wink, "And don't worry, I'll tell Stacee Jaxx not to come around and make you faint again."


	5. Sherrie In The Spotlight

Chapter Five: Sherrie in the Spotlight

Sherrie could see the panic in Dennis' eyes. Friday the 30th had come. It was 9:15 and still no opening act had took the stage. The crowd of about a thousand was becoming restless. Dennis had booked The Warriors but they had run into some problems with their lead singer, Tony, and he had refused to show up. He had also demanded more money to play at The Bourbon Room the same night as Arsenal even though Dennis had already secured him a very good offer.

"I ain't got time for this bullshit!" cried Dennis to Lonny. They both were standing off the side of the stage with the three present members of The Warriors: Drew, George, and Max. They looked just about fed up as Dennis was.

Lonny explained to Dennis that he had tried to reach Tony several times and kept bribing him with more and more money. George, the bassist, cut in with:"Don't even bother calling Tony, man. He's made up his mind. He ain't gonna come."

The drummer Max added, "Yeah, here lately he's got such a big head. He thinks he's arrived in the music business just cause he plays clubs like these."

Drew, the guitarist, said "You think with the way he acts that he's already Stacee Jaxx. We keep telling him 'Hey, don't think you're Arsenal when you're really the equivalent to a poor man's Cinderella.' I mean, come on. We know what we are. We aren't afraid to admit it." Drew shrugged. The other band members nodded in agreement.

Dennis rubbed his temples and then his face. He talked possible solutions over with Lonny and the rest of The Warriors. Sherrie could feel the restlessness of the crowd. "We want rock and roll!" "Where's the music?" "I want my money back!" were just some of the outcries filling the club. Sherrie heard one of the band members say their instruments were all set up and "they only needed a singer."

"Can't one of you guys sing?" Lonny suggested. "Why don't one of you sing and I can play the drums."

"Oh, no!" protested Max. "No way, man! I take my drumming seriously."

"For the love of God, man!" cried Dennis. "Can't you compromise just this one time?" He checked his watch. "It's now 9:25. These people are gonna start taking this place apart piece by piece if somebody doesn't get up there and start singing, playing, juggling, dancing a jig….I don't know and I don't care what you do. All I know is Stacee Jaxx does not go on stage without a opening act!"

They all continued exchanging words, suggestions, and protests until one of the band members threw up his hands and said, "I'm out of here!" and turned and walked away. The other two followed behind.

"Oh, shit." Dennis said. "Great. We might as well have hired a one-man band. I guess I'll have to take my life in my hands and get up there and make an announcement."

"What are you gonna tell 'em?" Lonny asked but Sherrie didn't wait to hear the answer. Dennis probably didn't know what he was going to say. Sherrie followed The Warriors back stage. She had an idea and it was a crazy one, yes. One that might even get her fired. _Or it might just work. _

Sherrie had never been backstage before on a show night. There were roadies everywhere wheeling equipment around and talking on walkie talkies, wardrobe crews pushing around racks of costumes, and hairdressers and makeup artists setting up their stations. Sherrie glanced around frantically to find The Warriors. She spotted them standing next a to what looked like a bodyguard, a massive one that someone would have to be a fool to mess with. She hid behind a clothing rack and waited for the giant to leave and when he did, Sherrie made her move.

"Hey! Hey, guys! The Warriors!" Sherrie called out, and ran over to them waving her arms. At first they were taken by surprise that anybody knew who they were.

"Hey, look guys," Max said smugly. "It's our first groupie! And she's hot too! Boy, I bet Tony wishes he was here now!" He laughed like a fifth grader who just told a fart joke. He folded his arms and licked his lips at her. Sherrie shuddered. _When hell freezes over, loser… _

George took a step forward and asked her what she was doing back here and Sherrie almost thought he was going to call security on her. Sherrie focused her attention on Drew since he seemed like the logical one.

"Look, I know this is crazy, but…" Sherrie began. Three sets of eyes were focused on her waiting for her to continue. " But…I know your singer isn't here and all you need is a singer, right? Well, here I am!"

Max burst out laughing, George rolled his eyes, but Drew looked intrigued at her proposition.

"Look," Sherrie said. "I can sing, trust me. All you guys have to do is play. I'm sorry but…I don't know any of your songs but if you just play the ones I tell you…"

"Hold on there, toots!" exclaimed Max. "You want _us_" he pointed a finger at himself "to back _you_ up while _you _sing?" He pointed at her accusingly and scoffed. He looked at her as she was the craziest person he had ever seen.

"How do we know if you're any good?" inquired George.

"I'm just as good as Tony." replied Sherrie. _If not better. _

The noise of the crowd had elevated. They were getting angrier and angrier every moment and if these guys didn't hurry up and agree to let her sing, Dennis was probably gonna get on stage any minute now and cancel the show.

"You know," Drew finally spoke. "This might work. We should try it."

"WHAT? Are you crazy, man? We can't let her go up there -" Max interjected but quit when Drew held up his hand and threatening to smack Max.

"Shut up, dude!" Drew cried. "Come on, man! You still wanna get _paid_, don't you?"

"Yeah, but what about her?" asked George nodding in Sherrie's direction. "I guess you would want a cut of our proceeds, wouldn't you?" he asked her.

Sherrie shook her head. "No." she answered sincerely. "No, sir. You don't have to share any of the money with me. Please, I'm begging you guys. The Bourbon Room means a lot to me and to lots of other people and…" she paused and then softly added, "And we need you to do this. Come on, it's the only way." Sherrie gave her best sad puppy dog eyes, pouted her lips, and folded her hands together begging the band to comply. She knew she looked ridiculous but she didn't care. Drew looked to George who looked to Max who looked back at Sherrie. For a moment all that could be heard was the sound of the crowd demanding music.

Drew looked back at Sherrie and with a smile he said, "What are we waiting for? We gotta show to do!"

Dennis had finally prepared himself to get up there and address the situation. He gave Lonny a pat on the back and whispered, "Here goes nothing." Dennis had took one step forward when the lights went down and the jeers turned into cheers. The audience whooped and hollered and whistled. "What's going on?" Dennis asked Lonny. Lonny shook his head and shrugged. "I don't know. Your guess is about as good as mine!" he shouted over the noise.

"SO SORRY TO KEEP YOU WAITING, L.A.!" came Drew's voice booming out of the microphone. "WE GOT A SPECIAL TREAT FOR YOU TONIGHT SO SIT BACK AND ENJOY THE RIDE!"

"Oh my god, it's The Warriors!" Lonny shouted to Dennis. "Did Tony show up after all?"

Dennis shook his head. "I don't know." he answered. He couldn't help but smile. His hide was saved. "I don't know who they got but I'm just glad they-"

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN PLEASE WELCOME OUR VERY SPECIAL GUEST MISS SHERRIE CHRISTIAN TO THE STAGE!" Dennis and Lonny looked at each other in disbelief and horror. "Sherrie Christian?" they both exclaimed at the same time. At that moment the guitar riffs kicked on, the drums started banging and the crowd went crazy. The spotlight fell on Sherrie who was still wearing her Bourbon Room tank top and denim mini-skit she worked in. She clapped and stomped her feet along with the music waiting for her cue. She searched the crowd and saw all these faces staring up at her, some of them trying to recall if they had ever heard of her and some of them not caring who she was just as long as they were entertained.

_You can do this, Sherrie. You can do it, you can do it, you can -_

"I saw him dancin there by the record machine/I knew he must have been about seventeen/The beat was going strong/Playing my favorite song/And I could tell it wouldn't be long/ Till he was with me, yeah me/ And I could tell it wouldn't be long/Till he was with me, yeah me singing/ I LOVE ROCK AND ROLL/SO PUT ANOTHER DIME IN THE JUKEBOX, BABY/I LOVE ROCK AND ROLL/SO COME AND TAKE YOUR TIME AND DANCE WITH ME! OW!"

Sherrie forgot all about any nerves she had prior. She got into character and pranced around the stage, feeding off the crowd, taking in all the energy. The audience seemed to love her. _So this is what it's like to be a rock star. This is…AWESOME! _

Sherrie finished the song and immediately went into: "Your love is like a tidal wave spinning over my head/Drowning me in your promises/Better left unsaid/You're the right kind of sinner/To release my inner fantasy/The invincible winner/And you know that you were born to please/YOU'RE A HEARTBREAKER/DREAM MAKER/LOVE TAKER/DON'T YOU MESS AROUND WITH ME/YOU'RE A HEARTBREAKER/DREAM MAKER/LOVE TAKER/DON'T YOU MESS AROUND!/NO, NO, NO!" As Sherrie reached down to touch the hands of the fans she caught a glimpse of Dennis and Lonny way in the back. Lonny looked hilarious with his arms up in the air making the devil horns gesture with both of his hands and banging his head. He hollered at her when they connected eyes. _Guess he's not mad at me anymore. _But Dennis was always a little bit harder to read than Lonny. He watched her carefully and deliberately with his arms folded across his chest but he didn't appear to be upset. He looked impressed, as far as Sherrie could tell. _Oh well. Can't think about that now. The show must go on! _Sherrie performed one more song and took a bow with The Warriors. Drew took her hand and raised her arm in the air and cried out: "GIVE IT UP ONE LAST TIME FOR MISS SHERRIE CHRISTIAN EVERYBODY!" The audience was thoroughly pleased although they were more than ready for Arsenal to hit the stage. With one last final bow, Sherrie exited the stage with the boys laughing and adrenaline pumping all through out her body. She gave each of the band members a high five and when she got to Max he held on to her hand and pulled her in for a hug.

"Gotta give it you, darling" Max said. "You proved me wrong!"

"You really _can_ sing!" exclaimed George.

"You're awesome, you know that?" said Drew. "You really saved the night from being a total bust."

"You should come be our new singer!" George was beside himself with excitement. "Yeah, we could be 'Sherrie Christian and The Warriors'! What do you think, guys?"

To her surprise, Drew objected first. "Whoa there, Lassie." he said to George. "What about Tony?"

"Aw, screw Tony!" cried Max. "We don't need that pansy ass diva anyway!"

"Guys, we can't just drop Tony!" Drew declared and with that the three guys started arguing over whether or not to keep their original singer.

"Guys, really…I don't…" Sherrie tried to tell them she had no desire to join their band but they weren't listening. As she stood there waiting to get a word in, Sherrie noticed some musicians were getting ready to take the stage. At first they seemed vaguely familiar to her and then it clicked. _They're in Arsenal! Arsenal is about to go on! Oh my god. That means Stacee Jaxx must be around here really close. _Then Sherrie remembered what Mary Beth had said. _Oh god. I swore to her I'd never sneak back stage and look where I am! Well, in all fairness I snuck back here to help! Not to find Stacee Jaxx. _

"So, you see that's why we really can't invite you to join us," Drew was saying to Sherrie now. "We do have an obligation to Tony and I'm sure he'll get over himself. He usually does."

"What? Oh, right!" Sherrie said when she realized what Drew was talking about. "Yeah, it's no big deal. I just want to thank you guys so much for letting me sing and helping the club out."

"No, thank _you,_ Sherrie." Drew said and extended his hand to her. Sherrie shook hands with all the guys and they slowly departed. Sherrie stood there for a moment longer soaking it all in. She had been on stage, singing, performing. It was why she had come to Hollywood in the first place. She finally got her first taste of stardom. She was so lost in her thoughts that she almost didn't notice that someone was passing right by her. A hand brushed her back. Suddenly there was a whisper in her ear. There was that voice again. It was so familiar and so sexy.

"Not bad, baby," he whispered. "Not bad at all for a rookie." And with a wink Stacee Jaxx strolled to the stage and left Sherrie standing there with her mouth agape.


	6. Gorgeous Stack of Pancakes

Chapter Six: Gorgeous Stack of Pancakes

"Let me get this straight, man." Paul Gill leaned forward in his chair on the tour bus and rested his folded hands on his knees. He stared at his superstar client who was lounging on the couch with his cowboy hat pulled down over his eyes and his baboon sleeping on his shoulder. "You've got the hots for a chick who works at The Bourbon Room?" Paul asked Stacee incredulously.

"I didn't say I've got the _hots_ for her, man." replied Stacee causally not bothering budge an inch. Forty days on the road wears a man out. "I only said I want you to contact her for me."

Paul snickered. "Oh, wow. Wow, Stacee. You're really moving up with your taste in women. Pole dancers, B list actresses, that reporter from _Rolling Stone_, groupies galore, and now…a barmaid at The Bourbon Room."

Stacee knew his manager wouldn't understand. But this girl was not like the others. Of course he had told that to himself several times before about other women. _But it's true with this one. What is it about her? Ever since that night I saw her singing with the broom; she's been in the back of my mind. And now last night seeing her up on stage like that. She really can sing. But how did she get mixed up with those lame asses The Warriors? Didn't they already have a singer? Some douche bag wannabe version of me? Hmmm…I wonder if she's banging one of 'em. Not the douche singer… not the prick drummer…not what's-his-face that plays bass…but the guitar guy. Yeah, he seems like her type. He must be her boyfriend or whatever…_

"So, what exactly do you want me to do, Stacee?" Paul was saying to him now.

"Just find out what nights and times she works. I'll take care of the rest." Stacee concluded.

Paul sighed and said, "OK, man. What ever you say. So does this gorgeous stack of pancakes got a name?"

"Sherrie." replied Stacee ignoring his manager's sarcastic comment although he wasn't wrong about that. "Sherrie Christian."

"Sherrie Christian…Sherrie Christian…Sherrie," Paul repeated to himself as rose up from his seat and start toward the front of the bus. He paused as soon as got near the bathroom door and asked over his shoulder: "Hey, you said Sherrie Christian, right? Wasn't that the name of the girl on stage last night with the opening act?"

"Yep." answered Stacee. "Yep, that was her."

"But I thought you said she works there?"

"She does."

"So why was she up there?"

"I couldn't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't know, man!"

"OK, OK! Jeez, I was only asking, man. Relax."

"Thanks, Paul. I will."

Stacee smiled with amusement as he listened to his manager grumble to himself as he walked away. Stacee continued to lay there with his baboon aptly named Hey Man. He stroked the monkey's fur and asked the animal: "She's just a girl, right? Just like any old girl. I don't need to be so hung up on her do I, Hey Man?"

The baboon opened his orange eyes ever so slightly and then with a heavy sigh closed them and continued sleeping.

"Yeah, I thought you'd say that," chuckled Stacee.


	7. A Walk on The Pier

Chapter Seven: A Walk on the Pier

"You wanna talk to _who_?" Mary Beth asked into the phone, smiling. Sherrie glanced up from her magazine and stare at her roommate quizzically. Mary Beth was obviously toying with whoever was calling.

"Sherrie?" Mary Beth asked incredulously. Sherrie put her magazine off the side and got up from her mattress and walked toward Mary Beth.

"Give me the phone, Mary Beth." Sherrie whispered and stuck out her hand but Mary Beth waved her off. Sherrie tried to grab at the phone but Mary Beth turned away.

"Sorry, there's no one here by that name." And with a sharp click Mary Beth hung up the receiver.

"Mary Beth!" Sherrie cried. "Who was that?"

Mary Beth shrugged. "I think it was a telemarketer. Someone named…"

The phone ran again. Sherrie pushed Mary Beth but the roommate was faster and stronger. Mary Beth picked it up and uttered a very exaggerated "_Hello_?"

"Oh, yes, you again," Mary Beth said, trying to keep her composure. She kept turning away from Sherrie as she was still trying to grab the phone.

"Sherrie? Sherrie?" Mary Beth repeated. "Oh, yeah. You know what, there is a Sherrie here. Hold on." Mary Beth looked rather amused by her own antics as she held the out receiver to Sherrie.

"It's for you," Mary Beth said matter-of-factly.

"Thanks!" Sherrie spat at her as she took the phone. "Hello?" she asked carefully.

"You have a very funny roommate," replied the voice on the other end with a laugh. "Hey, Sherrie. It's me, Drew." A brief pause and then followed with: "You know, from The Warriors?"

"Oh, yeah! Hi!" chirped Sherrie but then realized she probably sounded fake. Mary Beth watched her from a distance and raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, look." Drew said. "I just wanna thank you again for last night. You helped us out so much and you totally rocked it!"

"Aw, thanks," Sherrie said. "Well, I couldn't have done it without you…and the rest of the guys."

"Yeah, but we would have never gone on stage if it hadn't been for you." Drew admitted.

"Yeah, but I never would have got the chance if you hadn't been there." Sherrie replied.

"Oh my god, just ask her out already, dude!" a voice chimed in.

"Mary Beth!" cried Sherrie into the phone. "Hang up!"

Sherrie heard her roommate hang up and could hear her laughing uncontrollably in the bathroom. She poked her head out and shook the other phone at Sherrie.

"Thank God for cordless phones! How did we ever live without these?" she teased.

"I'm sorry, Drew. She's a pain in the ass." Sherrie remarked to which a cry of "I heard that!" echoed back at her.

"That's OK." Drew said in between laughs. "But she's right, though. So…Sherrie, would you like to come out with me? Are you off tonight?"

"Uh, yeah I'm off. I…uh…" Sherrie paused. She hadn't been a date in a long time. _Where would we go? What would we do? What should I wear? Ugh, I'm always better at this when I a few days to plan ahead…_

"We don't have to go anywhere fancy," Drew reassured her; seeming to read her mind. "I was thinking we could go down to the pier…and you know…" he trailed off. Sherrie could tell he was just as nervous as she was.

"OK, that sounds like fun." Sherrie finally responded.

"Really?" Drew seemed very happy. "OK, great! So…um, I'll…well, honestly, I can't pick you up cause…well, I don't have a car." He seemed to be embarrassed by this.

"Oh, no problem." Sherrie said. "I don't have one either. It's no big deal we can just take a cab."

Sherrie told Drew where she lived and he arranged for a cab to meet her at 8 pm.

As soon as she hung up Sherrie felt like she could burst with anticipation. Mary Beth strolled back in the room and let on that she had been listening again when she said,

"Have fun, girl. But seriously, don't have sex on the beach. It's not as sexy as it sounds and sand gets all up in your crack. Plus, you never know when the cops might show up and things get messy."

Sherrie was about protest about Mary Beth eavesdropping again but realized there was no point in it. Instead she let Mary Beth's comment marinate for a moment and said teasingly:

"Wow, that was a _very_ detailed account. Almost like you might _know _something about being caught up in a situation like that."

Mary Beth laughed and held up in her hands in defense said. "Hey don't judge me, lady."

A few hours later Sherrie and Drew were walking along Santa Monica beach taking in all the sights and sounds of the famous pier. It was even prettier at night with the Ferris wheel lit up. Sherrie took a deep breath and exhaled. She thought of the many nights she spent dreaming of coming to California in her sleepy Oklahoma town. _And here I am…_Sherrie thought as she felt the sand swish between her toes.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Drew asked. Sherrie glanced at him and smiled. With his dark hair and big brow eyes Sherrie couldn't help but be attracted to him. Drew smiled back.

"Oh, I was just thinking how far I've come," Sherrie said. "Well…in terms of how far I've come in miles." _Not so much how far I've come in success…_

"Where are you from?" Drew asked as he picked up a stone and made it ripple across the waves.

"A one-horse town in Oklahoma," laughed Sherrie. "Well, actually it's more like a one stoplight town."

"Oklahoma?" Drew repeated with a smile. "So you're a down home kind of girl, huh?" He tried to do a country accent but failed miserably. Sherrie gave him a gentle shove.

"That's right, city boy!" she drawled back at him.

"So what's a small town girl doing in big bustling metropolis like L.A.?" Drew said. "Looking to hit the big time?" he teased. Sherrie knew he didn't mean anything by the question but for some reason his words stung. Drew glanced over at her and realized what he said must have sounded sarcastic. He put an arm around her shoulder and pulled in her close.

"Hey," Drew whispered. "It's OK. Look, that's why I came out here, too, you know. I came all the way from New York and look at me." He paused and shrugged with his other arm. "I'm basically in a karaoke band with a bunch of wannabe rockers. I work at Tower Records on the side and that barely makes ends meet. Sometimes…" he trailed off and then softly added: "Sometimes…I just want to shuck it all and go back home."

Sherrie nodded. "I know what you mean." she whispered back. "For about a year and a half I've working at The Bourbon Room. I'm lucky Dennis and Lonny like me so much otherwise I'd probably be down at The Venus Club with my roommate stripping off my clothes under some name like Candy or Jasmine or whatever…" Sherrie tried to laugh the thought off but she knew she could be one paycheck away from resorting to that. They continued walking along the beach with Drew's arm draped around Sherrie's neck. She liked the way his arm felt, warm against her skin. She wrapped her arm around his waist and nuzzled against his chest. He didn't seem to mind because he hugged her even tighter. Soon they sat in the sand nuzzled up next to each other. _I hope he doesn't get the wrong idea about me. _Sherrie worried. But Drew didn't try to make any moves on her.

"I'm sorry," Sherrie whispered to him. "I normally don't get this…this _comfortable_ on the first date, really."

Drew chuckled. "It's all right." he replied.

"It's just…" Sherrie paused and bit her lip. "It's just…it's been a long time since someone has held me close like this. I think it was my Nana…you know, my grandmother. Right before I left to come out here. We held on to each other for the longest time. She really believed in me." Sherrie realized her voice was beginning to crack and tears brimmed in her eyelids. "She said I was so talented and that I'd be a big star someday. You could tell she really wanted me to stay home and go to college but when everyone else laughed at me, she believed in me. I'd hate for her to see what I've made of myself out here…I'm nothing but a barmaid in some club on Sunset…" Sherrie couldn't help the tears falling now. She felt like a major disappointment. She knew exactly what Drew had meant when he said he wanted to "shuck it all" and go home. She couldn't even remember the number of times she called Greyhound to find out how much a one way ticket cost to go back. Maybe the tiny town wasn't as glamorous as Los Angeles but at least it was safe and predictable. At least she knew she mattered to somebody. Drew was rubbing her back now trying to console her.

"Hey," he whispered. "Stop that crying. Come on, Sherrie, you're not a failure. Your grandma was right, you do have talent. You really do. One of these days you'll get your big break. We both will, I'm sure of it."

Sherrie glanced up at Drew and saw the confidence in his eyes. She didn't know what made him so sure of the future but it sounded good for now. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand. She looked into his warm friendly face and smiled.

"You remind me of someone," she told him.

"Oh, really?" Drew asked intrigued.

"Yeah, someone I knew back home." Sherrie replied. "You remind me of my old high school boyfriend. You didn't by any chance play football, did you?"Drew chuckled and shook his head. "Are you kidding me? I'm the most un-athletic person in the world." Drew raised an eyebrow. "So your boyfriend was one of _those_ guys, huh?"

Sherrie laughed. "Yeah, he was a jock. But you know football is everything in Oklahoma. I'd be there every Friday night rooting for him."

"Oh, wait." Drew held up a hand. "Let me guess…you were a cheerleader?"

Sherrie nodded and laughed.

"I know, it sounds so cliché, doesn't it?" she giggled. "But since football was everything for the guys; then cheerleading was everything for the girls. Well, cheerleading and pageants but I was never into the pageant thing. It can get way too expensive you know and Nana didn't have that kind of money…and…wait, why are you laughing?"

Drew was snickering and shaking his head at Sherrie's tales of back home. She nudged him with her elbow.

"I'm sorry," he said in between laughs. "It's just sounds like a Norman Rockwell picture."

"Uh-huh." Sherrie clicked her tongue. "Well, I'm sorry, Mr. New York, but that's how it was back in my corner of the world."

"So, what happened to him?" Drew asked.

"To who?" Sherrie replied and then remembered. "Oh! My boyfriend? We broke up."

Drew rolled his eyes. "Well, of course you did. Why? Did he believe in you coming out here?"

Sherrie looked out across the waves. She clutched a handful of sand and let it slip through her fingers. She recalled the last night she had spent with him.

"He got a full ride scholarship to OU." Sherrie whispered. "I was so happy for him. We went out to celebrate at the little drive-in burger joint. And when he brought me home we sat out on the porch swing. Just holding on to each other, kissing, making promises. That's when he pulled out this little box…" Sherrie could feel the tears forming again and her voice shaking. Drew was watching her closely and listening intently.

"He pulled out this little box from his varsity letterman jacket and it was…it was a ring. He proposed to me. Right there on my Nana's steps. I was shocked. But I was so happy. I cried and I said yes but deep down I knew something wasn't right. I knew I loved him with all my heart. He was my first love, you know. He said he didn't want to wait until after college; he wanted to marry me over the summer….Then we would go and live in Norman together. I was accepted to OU, too. But…something deep down told me this wasn't what I really wanted. I…I…I'm sorry, I'm just blabbing on and on."

Drew rubbed Sherrie's back. "It's OK," he reassured her. "You don't have to tell me the whole story if you don't want to."

Sherrie shook her head. "No, I'll tell it. I talked to my Nana about it and can you believe it? She knew all along he was going to propose. He actually asked for her permission to marry me. I mean, who does that anymore?" Drew nodded and motioned for her to continue.

"Well, anyway. I told Nana how I felt and she told me it was up to me. She couldn't make the decision for me. She said she'd support me and love me no matter what I chose to do. So the next time I saw him I told him how I really felt. How I felt we were both too young to get married and that we have different dreams and aspirations…about how I wanted to move to California. He asked me what was in California and I told him how much I wanted to sing….He asked me if I was serious and when I said I was…he was so heartbroken. I could tell. He was quiet for the longest time…and I was just waiting for him to get angry, for him to start laughing at me and tell me to dream on…. That it would never happen. Well, he never did say any of those things. I slipped the ring off my finger and held out to him. He just stood there. And finally he told me: "Sherrie, I saved up money for six months to buy you that ring. I worked double shifts at the hardware store, mowed lawns and raked leaves…I didn't ask my dad for a penny." He came from a wealthy family you know… Anyway, that's was pretty much all he said. He took the ring and turned to walk away and I ran after him apologizing and telling him I'd always love him…that he'll always be special to me…that I want nothing but the best for him…that he'll find someone new…someone better…he'll get over me. Right before he got in his truck he turned to me and said: "I will _never_ get over you, Sherrie. I hope you find whatever it is you're looking for in California. Goodbye." And he tore off…" Sherrie was crying again now remembering the young man she had rejected.

Drew sighed as he took in her sad story. He hugged her close and whispered softly,

"Sherrie, don't blame yourself. You did what was best for you."

Sherrie shook her head. "I broke his heart, Drew." She blubbered. "And sometimes I think I made the biggest mistake of my life!"

Drew put his hand under Sherrie's chin and raised it so she would look at him. He rubbed away a tear with his thumb.

"The next morning I was on a bus out here," Sherrie said as she peered into Drew's brown eyes. Those brown eyes that were so reminiscent of the boy she left back in Oklahoma. Drew cupped her head in his hands and leaned down to kiss her softly on the lips.

"And you made the right choice, Sherrie." Drew whispered. "It may not seem like it now, but you will see. Give it time."


	8. Hollywood Nights

Chapter Eight: Hollywood Nights

"Come on, Lonny. Just tell me already!" Sherrie pleaded. She was leaning over the bar watching Lonny painstakingly wipe the shot glasses clean. It was closing in on 2:30 a.m. and The Bourbon Room was getting ready to shut down. Sherrie glanced around and watched a few drunken patrons stagger out the door. A couple lingered by the wall in the corner and the roadies of the band that played tonight were gathering up all the equipment. Lonny continued to wipe each shot glass and smirked at Sherrie.

"I know something you don't know…I know something you don't know." he taunted in a sing-song-y voice.

Sherrie slapped her hand on the counter in protest. "Lonny!" she cried. "What is it? Tell me! Did Drew call?"

Sherrie hadn't seen Drew in a few weeks. He and The Warriors were doing some gigs up in Fresno. He had called once from a pay phone but the noise from whatever club he was in made it difficult to communicate. All Sherrie could clearly remember Drew saying was he'd be back in L.A. in a few more days. They had really grown close to each other the last several weeks. Sherrie missed Drew immensely and if he had called; she wanted to know. And here was Lonny playing games with her.

"Drew?" Lonny asked as if he had never heard the name before in his life. "Drew Who? Oh, you mean that guy you've been seeing?"

Sherrie nodded.

"No, not Drew. Somebody else called asking for you." Lonny said glancing up at her from the glass he was wiping.

Sherrie shrugged her arms impatiently. "Could you narrow that down for me, please?" she asked, irritated. Although she had no idea who else would be calling for her if it wasn't Drew. _Could it be Mary Beth? Did something happen to her? _Sherrie wondered.

"I'm not at liberties to discuss that with you, ma'am." Lonny said trying to sound serious but he couldn't keep a straight face. Sherrie slapped the counter again.

"Hey, lady! What that bar ever do to you?" Lonny joked.

Sherrie threw up her hands and turned to walk away. "I give up. Whoever it was must have not been anyone important otherwise you'd tell me. I gotta get back to work." She called over her shoulder.

"You'll know soon enough." Lonny mumbled but Sherrie didn't hear him.

Later that night while Sherrie was finishing up Lonny walked by and said a causal goodbye.

"Wait, where are you going?" Sherrie asked. "Aren't we supposed all leave to together?" Normally Sherrie, Lonny and Dennis were the last people to leave and they walked out together just to be safe.

Lonny was already at the door and held it open. " Nah, I gotta run. I think you'll be OK. You're a big girl, right?"

"Yes, I am." replied Sherrie. "But it's your fault if I wind up on the morning news dead in a garbage bin somewhere." Sherrie laughed and then added, "It's OK. Dennis will walk out with me."

To her surprise Lonny shook his head. "Dennis left like a hour ago. He finished up with the bookkeeping and said he had a migraine so he went home."

"Oh." Sherrie said. She got a funny feeling in her stomach that something wasn't

right.

"Are you two playing tricks on me?" she asked.

Lonny laughed and said "I swear, honest to God truth. He told me he had a really bad migraine. And me? I'd promised I'd meet up with cute little thing that kept giving me the eye all night. So if you would excuse me?"

Sherrie looked him over. Lonny was a notoriously bad liar and she could always tell when he wasn't telling the truth. Nothing about his face or body language said otherwise so she waved him off and he slipped out the door. _Even if he is telling the truth he's still not telling me all of it._ Sherrie thought. _Something about his behavior all night seems to be off. He does know something I don't know. But what? Oh well. It's probably something silly anyway. _

About ten minutes later, Sherrie put on her denim jacket and slid her purse strap over her shoulder. She unzipped the bag and pulled out a small pocketknife and put in the pocket of her jacket. When she went to open the front door it was locked.

_Crap! I forgot it locks on its own. _Dennis and Lonny were the ones with the keys and the bouncers are the ones that let everyone in. Sherrie didn't panic though; she decided she'd just exit out the back door. The back door opened without a problem and it let her out into the mild L.A. night. She had to walk down this back alley to get turned around and get on Sunset. The alley was dark and narrow. It was littered with cigarette butts, broken beer bottles and crushed soda cans, newspapers, fast food wrappers. It was almost like the kind of alley that would be perfect in a horror movie. One would almost expect Freddy Kruger or Jason to pop out of the shadows any moment. Sherrie didn't let it bother her; she just kept her normal walking pace hand in her pocket on the knife just in case. She came to the end of the alley and turned left on Sunset. She paused for a moment wondering if there was a pay phone somewhere maybe she could call a taxi. But her apartment was only a few blocks away; maybe she'd just walk. She looked around the strip. She had always heard that all the freaks come out at night in Hollywood. It was true, she had seen plenty since she'd been there, but it looked like most of them had gone home for the evening. There were a few stragglers, a few homeless people on the curb sleeping, a few women loitering around that were more than likely prostitutes.

Nobody looked too dangerous so Sherrie decided she would walk; just keep a quick pace and don't stop for anybody.

As soon as Sherrie took a step forward in the direction of home a voice came from behind her.

"A little late for a walk, don't you think?"

Sherrie froze. The voice sounded familiar but she was so tired she couldn't place it and didn't care to. It was probably just some homeless creep that was going to hit her up for some change. Sherrie took a few steps forward and the voice came again.

"L.A. is a shady place at night, baby. Why don't you take a ride with me?"

There was that voice. As sleepy as she was, Sherrie knew she'd heard it before. She carefully turned around and at first she didn't see anybody. She thought she was hearing things but then she spotted a silhouette of man leaning against the brick wall of the alley. He almost could have been the Marlboro man with his back against the wall, one leg bent, and the other one straight, and Sherrie could see the glow of his lit cigarette. All he needed was a cowboy hat.

"Look, mister." Sherrie spoke sternly to the shadow. "If you come near me I have a knife and I'm not afraid to use it." She threatened; her hand gripping the knife in her pocket. A chuckle came from the shadow and he flicked his cigarette and slowly came from out the shadows. Panic and fear rose in Sherrie's heart. She had been bluffing; she had never had to use the pocketknife. _What if he wrestles it away from me and slits my throat and cuts me up into little pieces? What am I going to do? Should I fight? Should I scream? Should I just start running? _Sherrie figured the last option was probably the best one; she should just take off running but she felt like a deer in the headlights.

As the man came closer the street light shined down upon him. Sherrie's mouth dropped opened. She almost didn't think it was really him at first; she thought maybe it was some wannabe. He was dressed down; as dressed down as Stacee Jaxx could get. He wore his usual boots and leather pants but only wore a white sleeveless t -shirt and blue bandanna. He had his trademark aviator sunglasses and at first Sherrie thought it ridiculous he would wear them at night but realized it was probably to keep him disguised. He didn't have on his usual garb, no posse, no groupies, no bodyguards, and no baboon. Sherrie stood in awe.

"Well?" Stacee asked as he stood right in front of her. "Are you gonna whip out that knife on me, or what?" He flashed a mega-watt smile. It was one of those smiles that when somebody smiled at you like that; you can't help but smile back.

Sherrie grinned and burst out laughing. "Oh my god, you had me so scared!" she laughed. Stacee laughed with her. Sherrie let out a deep sigh of relief. She stared at Stacee in wonder.

"What are you doing here?" Sherrie asked.

"Waiting for you. I didn't mean to freak you out…" he answered.

Sherrie waved it off. "Oh, it's OK… Wait, you were waiting for _me_?" She gasped. "Why?"

Stacee smiled smugly. "It's weird we're always in the same place at the same time isn't it?"

Sherrie nodded. "I know. Every time, I can't believe it's really you! I know I probably seem like a speechless idiot to you because every time we meet; I can never talk."

Stacee shrugged. "Yeah, I have that effect on people sometimes. But hey, I can get star struck too you know. When I first met Mick and Keith and the rest of the Stones…yeah. I still have never been the same since."

Sherrie laughed. "Yeah, I guess that happens to all of us, huh? So…why are you waiting for me again?" She paused and considered a moment. Then something clicked. "Oh my god! Did Lonny set this up?"

Stacee smirked. "Lonny? Who's Lonny?" he snickered.

Sherrie clicked her tongue. "Oh, so you're gonna play games with me too? You know damn well who Lonny is. He set this up didn't he?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, honey." Stacee laughed, shaking his head.

Sherrie was determined to get a straight answer out of someone tonight. She placed her hands on her hips and tried her best to look angry. Stacee kept on laughing.

"Honestly, baby," he said. "So I might have made a few calls, pulled some strings. But this?" He gestured between the two of them. "All this was my doing."

Sherrie gasped softly. "So…Lonny…Lonny had nothing to do with you being here tonight?"

Stacee nodded. He tweaked her nose gently. "Did anyone ever tell you that you're cute when you're mad? Well, you're already cute to begin with…"

"Oh, you!" Sherrie waved him off. "Come on now, I'm not one of those backstage floozies." She was joking but noticed his face turned serious suddenly.

"I know." he said. "That's why I'm here."

Sherrie was again rendered speechless. _Is Stacee Jaxx interested in me? Of all people? ME?!_

Stacee turned and motioned for her to follow him. "Come with me." he said. Sherrie finally became of aware of the motorcycle on the curb. It wasn't his usual Harley he pulled up on at events but a Kawasaki. Sherrie wondered why the change but then again realized it was to keep him incognito. A Harley roared too loud and besides no one would think to see him on a "crotch rocket" like a Kawasaki.

He was already on the seat and getting ready to crank it when Sherrie tried to politely decline.

"You know, it's really late. And I should get home. My roommate is gonna wonder about me…"

"What are you gonna do?" Stacee asked. "Walk? I don't think so." He didn't wait for her reply, he started the motor and motioned with his head for her to get on. Sherrie decided to just go with it. _Wait until Mary Beth gets a load of this!_ Sherrie smiled to herself as she tried to imagine the look on Mary Beth's face when she would see Sherrie on the back of Stacee Jaxx's motorcycle.

"Hang on." Stacee told Sherrie over his shoulder. Before she could think about anything else they took off flying down Sunset Boulevard.

A few minutes later they were climbing the hill with the Hollywood sign. Sherrie gripped Stacee's hand tightly trying not to stumble as they walked up toward the landmark.

"This is illegal, isn't it?" Sherrie asked.

"Of course it is." Stacee replied nonchalantly with a squeeze of her hand. "What is it that they say? Everything that's fun is either fattening, immoral, or illegal."

Sherrie laughed at his joke but still remained apprehensive. She knew they weren't the first ones to climb up to the Hollywood sign and wouldn't be the last but the possibility of being caught made her nervous. _Would the cops recognize Stacee? Would he have the ability to get off free because of his fame? And even if he did; there's still me. The tabloids would have a field day. I can already see the headlines with "Stacee Jaxx trespassed the Hollywood sign with a mystery blonde. Who is she?" _

"Hey, come on up!" Stacee called down to Sherrie. He had climbed up on the first O in Hollywood. Sherrie hesitated as she stared at Stacee's extended arm offering her his hand.

"Don't worry," he said. "Just take my hand."

Sherrie sighed and reluctantly put her hand in his. With a single motion, Stacee pulled Sherrie up off the ground and she was right next to him. Her arm tingled slightly with some pain because Stacee pulled on it so strongly. He slid his arm around her waist and pulled her into his side.

"See?" he whispered. "Isn't this awesome?"

Sherrie didn't know if the word "awesome" could even scratch the surface of describing what she saw. The whole city of Los Angeles, it seemed, could be seen from up there. She looked down at all the twinkling city lights and vast and endless it seemed. She pictured in her mind all the millions of people down there and so many of them with dreams like her own. She closed her eyes and then opened them again just to make sure she wasn't dreaming. It was real. A year ago she never would have imagined she would sitting on top of one of America's most famous landmarks with Stacee Jaxx's arm around her waist. Sherrie briefly glanced up at Stacee who seemed to be lost in thought as well. She turned her eyes back on the city lights and wished she could stay up there forever.

"It's beautiful." Sherrie whispered.

"Yes, it is." replied Stacee but Sherrie didn't notice that he was looking at her.

They remained there for a good while, in silence, gazing out over the City of Angels; a city that had made dreams come true and a city that had broke several hearts along the way.

"I come up here to think sometimes." Stacee said. "I remember when I first came up here. I was so _eager_…I mean I was _desperate_." He smiled as he shook his head at the memory. He glanced at Sherrie.

"How old are you, again?" he asked.

"Nineteen." she answered.

"Nineteen." he repeated. "You're just a baby. Kind of like I was back then. I was twenty-one. I had just hitch-hiked my way here from Illinois. Had nothing but the clothes on my back and my guitar case. That's been almost ten years gone by and now look at me…" he gestured to indicate the Hollywood sign. "Here I still am!" He grinned.

Sherrie smiled back. "Oh, I think some things have changed for you since then".

"Yeah, but for the better or for the worst?" Stacee asked.

Sherrie shrugged. "I don't know…you tell me. I'd say for the better."

"How so?" he asked

"Well…"she began. "You worked your ass off and paid your dues like everyone else and look at you now. You've got a lot to show for all your effort."

Stacee laughed. "Yeah, I certainly paid my dues alright. I'll never forget those nay-sayers telling me to give it up and to not quit my day job which was anything from waiting tables, doing dishes, sweeping floors, washing cars, mowing the grass at a cemetery…you name it I did it. I even worked at a record store for a like a day or two…can't remember now."

"Which one?" Sherrie asked.

"Tower on Sunset, actually. Yeah, they fired me. I stole some Steppenwolf records…Oh well. I doubt anyone remembers me if they're even still there…"

"Tower records?!" Sherrie exclaimed. "That's where Drew works!" The mention of the record store suddenly brought Drew back into her mind. Stacee wrinkled his brow in confusion for a moment and then realized who she was talking about.

"Drew Boley? The guitarist in The Warriors?" Stacee inquired.

Sherrie was taken back. "You _know_ Drew?" she gasped.

"Well, let's just say I know _of_ him…not so much know him personally." Stacee replied. "He's a talented guy. He can definitely jam on that Les Paul of his."

Sherrie nodded excitedly in agreement. "I know! He's amazing. I hope he gets his big break. He deserves it."

Stacee playfully nudged her. "So do you. I heard you sing. You blew my mind."

Sherrie was grateful it was dark and Stacee wouldn't be able to see her blushing cheeks. She ran her hand through her hair and played with the ends.

"You really think so?" she asked as she twirled a strand around her finger.

"I know so." Stacee confirmed. "So do you sing with those guys?"

"What guys? Oh…you mean The Warriors? No. I just did that so you know…so that the show wouldn't be canceled."

"Who would have canceled it?"

"Well," Sherrie paused. "Dennis said Arsenal wouldn't go on without an opening act and The Warrior's singer didn't show up…so I stepped in."

Stacee chuckled and shook his head. "Oh, Dennis. Dennis the menace. Paul probably fed him that line of crap. I'm really not that big of a diva, you know. Sure, I admit I'm a little eccentric. But that's kind of prerequisite if you're gonna make it in this business." He smiled warmly and added, "Are you a weirdo, Sherrie?"

Sherrie laughed. "Yeah, I guess so. I guess everybody at The Bourbon Room is. Hell, I think everybody in this town is to some degree."

"It wouldn't be L.A. then, would it?" Stacee asked rhetorically.

Sherrie shook her head no. She took in Stacee then. She figured he was about thirty and that really wasn't that old. But as fast as he had lived for the last decade it made him appear to be much older. She figured he had seen plenty in his lifetime; and not just the usual sex, drugs and rock and roll. She had read a story on him once that he had come from a broken home and lived with foster parents all throughout his childhood. He acted out in his teenage years and briefly lived on the streets of Chicago. It wasn't until he got his hands on a guitar and discovered he had a natural God given gift. In a way, music saved him.

But it seemed music now held him prisoner. He knew, despite how popular his band was, how fickle the industry was. He knew there was always a hotter, fresher, up- and-coming band like The Warriors to compete with. Music was constantly evolving and the current trend was not rock but pop tarts and boy bands. He knew his critics said he had lost his edge, that he no longer had the energy on stage like he once did. Jealousy from his bandmates had been threatening to tear Arsenal apart now for sometime. And there was Paul, his manager. Always pushing for the bigger better deal. After a while the money had lost its luster and Stacee got to where he honestly didn't care if he played for free or not. He anonymously donated one million dollars a children's home and he found it disgustingly hypocritical when other celebrities adopted children from a third world country when there are plenty of kids in Los Angeles and in the rest of the U.S. that need good, safe homes.

"So is Drew waiting for you now?" Stacee causally asked. "Is he your main squeeze?"

Sherrie nodded. "We've been seeing each other for about a month now. He's up in Fresno with his band. They should be back here any day now."

"You pretty serious with him?"

"Well…" Sherrie didn't know what to say. _Are we serious? We haven't even had the "are we or aren't we boyfriend/girlfriend" talk yet. We haven't even said I love you to each other yet. Does he love me? Do I love him?_

"Well…we're not married or anything. I mean…I really do feel something special for him, you know. I feel like we have a lot in common. We both left home to come out here. To chase our dreams."

Stacee considered her for moment and said, "You should come sing onstage with me sometime."

"WHAT?!" Sherrie exclaimed. She clasped her hand over her mouth when she realized how loud she was. She stared back at Stacee wide-eyed. He chuckled at her surprise.

"Yeah, I'm serious. Next time we play The Bourbon Room you need to come up and do a duet with me. It will get you some exposure."

Sherrie couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Oh my god, oh Stacee, I…I…I just don't know about that…I mean sing onstage with _you_? You know how many people you draw in? I just don't know if I could do it…"

Stacee waved her off. "Oh, bullshit. You didn't that one night, didn't you? So what's the big deal if you did it again?"

Sherrie was beside herself with excitement and anxiety. "Yeah, but, Stacee! That was just that once and I didn't even have time to think about it! I just did it. This is different…"

"How so?" he asked, arms folded.

"I just don't want any favors…you know?" Sherrie said. "I mean…I appreciate the offer, I mean…I really, _really _do! It's just…I don't want people to get the wrong idea."

Stacee narrowed his eyes at her. "You mean, you think people are gonna say you slept with me to get the gig?"

Sherrie opened her mouth to deny it but then closed it when she realized that was exactly what she was afraid of. She nodded her head and looked away. She looked out over L.A. again and noticed daybreak was beginning to peek through the night clouds. It was probably almost 5 a.m.

"We should go." Stacee said and hopped down from the letter. He reached up and lifted her down. She told him where her apartment was and they rode over there in silence. When she dismounted from the bike she turned to Stacee and said, "Thanks for the nice night."

He nodded. "Yeah, you bet. Now, think up a good song we can sing together, all right? See you later, doll."

Sherrie was going to reject the offer again but Stacee revved the engine and took off. It was clear that he wasn't going to take no for an answer.


	9. Good News and a Warning

Chapter Nine: Good News and a Warning

Sherrie flung her arms around Drew's neck the second he walked through the door of her apartment. He had called the night Sherrie went to the Hollywood sign with Stacee and left a message saying he'd be back in L.A. that night but he had been too tired from the trip to come by. Mary Beth had took the message and surprisingly she didn't ask Sherrie where she had been all night. Sherrie was glad. She hadn't told anybody, not even Dennis or Lonny, about her night with Stacee. She figured nobody would believe her anyway. However, Stacee seemed dead set on her singing with him. Sherrie knew she had to tell Drew. But how? Sherrie didn't know where to begin, for one, and two, it seemed Drew had some news of his own.

He planted a big kiss on her lips and then said, "Oh, Sherrie I missed you so much! Come on, let's sit down. I've got some good news to tell you."

As he led her over the couch, Sherrie said, "I've missed you too. I've got something I want to talk to you about too."

They sat down. Drew put his hand on Sherrie's knee and rubbed it gently. "You go first," he said, grinning widely. "But make it quick, because I'm just too excited!"

Sherrie shook her head. "No, you first," She returned his smile. "What's the big news?"

Drew inhaled deeply and exhaled loudly. "Well," he began. His dark brown eyes were lit up with excitement. He bounced his right leg up and down.

"When me and the guys were in Fresno, this record exec heard us and loved us! We gave him a copy of our demo and he called us back. Turns out he's from Capitol Records! You know, that's right here in town, right? On Hollywood and Vine?"

Sherrie nodded as she pictured the circular building in her head.

"He wants to _sign_ us, Sherrie! _Sign_ us! Can you believe it! It's finally happening!" Drew cried. Sherrie screamed in excitement and threw out her arms and embraced Drew. They rocked back and forth as they hugged. When they let go, Sherrie wiped a tear from her eye.

"Oh, Drew." She said. "That's amazing! I'm so happy for you."

Drew waved his hand at her. "Wait, that's not all, Sherrie. There's more. We changed our name from The Warriors to Wolfgang Von Colt."

Sherrie giggled. "Wolfgang Von What?"

Drew laughed. "Von Colt. I know it sounds weird, but I like it better than The Warriors. The Warriors sounded so…lame to me. So cliché…and anyway Warriors was name Tony came up with. Tony, you know, our singer?"

Sherrie nodded.

"Well, guess what?" Drew said. "We got rid of Tony! And that means we need a new singer…" He pointed a finger at her. "That means you, sweetie!" He exclaimed.

Sherrie opened her mouth but nothing came out. Drew didn't seem to notice.

"It's gonna be awesome, Sherrie!" Drew continued. "You'd be the perfect singer. At first I always thought we'd just be an all-guy band but I think a girl singer will make us stand out from the rest…not to mention you'd make a hot lead singer. I am right? Sherrie? Are you OK?"

"I'm fine." Sherrie replied. "It's just….Wow. It's all too good to be true."

Drew nodded. "I know. It's finally happening for us! You should come with me and the rest of the guys to Capitol when we go to sign. They need to hear you. I told 'em that they wouldn't be disappointed." He winked at her. She smiled.

"Wow." She said again. _I can't believe it! It is finally happening! But what about Stacee? _

"Drew," Sherrie said. "I need to tell you something…I.."

Drew took her hands in his and squeezed them tightly. His brown eyes looked deep into her blue eyes. "You know, Sherrie. I almost gave up and went back to New York. That was like…oh, the night before I met you. I saw you get up there and own that stage. I thought now there's a special girl. And that night we went down to the pier I knew I was right about you. You're genuinely talented. But more than that you're so sweet and so kind. I know you'd never hurt me or anyone else. I love you so much, Sherrie. And I'm glad I can share this dream with you."

Sherrie didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She could feel warm tears brimming on her eyelids.

"I love you too, Drew." She said. At that moment her heart burst with joy and she embraced Drew and the two kissed deeply.

At that moment, the apartment door opened and Mary Beth walked in. Upon seeing Sherrie and Drew kissing she said, "Oh, please! Not on the couch! I eat there sometimes you know."

The couple pulled apart and laughed. "Guess what?" Drew said to Mary Beth. "We just got a record deal. And Sherrie's gonna be our new singer!"

Mary Beth tossed her purse on the kitchen counter. "Hey, that's great." She said, obviously not believing him. "Well, when you get your first million don't forget me."

Sherrie and Drew laughed. He turned to face her and said, "So, what did you want to tell me?"

_Oh, I can't tell you now with Mary Beth here. _

"I…um…" Sherrie began. She glanced over at Mary Beth who was sorting through the mail but Sherrie could tell her roommate was eavesdropping. Drew waited patiently.

"I…uh…I got a letter from my Nana." Sherrie said.

The following night at The Bourbon Room, the fact that Sherrie still hadn't told Drew about the night with Stacee weighed on her mind. _Well, it's not like I lied to him. _She thought. _I really did get a letter from Nana. I just couldn't say it with Mary Beth around and it didn't seem like the right time. I'll tell him tonight for sure. _

Sherrie went about her usual business taking care of the patrons. Lonny approached her and told her she needed to come with him to Dennis' office.

"What for?" She asked.

Lonny shook his head. "I don't know." he answered and motioned with his head for her to follow him. Sherrie shrugged and followed Lonny up the stairs to the office. She wasn't really worried because she knew she had been doing her job just fine all week.

Sherrie walked in first and Lonny followed and closed the door behind him. Dennis was sitting at his desk, going over the books, it seemed. A lit cigarette burned on top of a glass ashtray. It was always dimly lit in Dennis' office; only the lamp on his desk gave any light to the room. He glanced up and neither smiled nor frowned at the two of them. He motioned for them to sit down.

"Sherrie…Lonny…Have a seat." Dennis said. Sherrie and Lonny exchanged glances at each other as if maybe they could telepathically figure out what was going on.

They both sat down.

Dennis folded his hands together. He looked from Lonny to Sherrie, Sherrie back to Lonny.

"OK." Dennis began. "So a few nights ago, I had this killer migraine and I left early. You guys remember that night?"

They both nodded in unison.

"Right." Dennis said. "And I left you two alone to close up, right?"

They both nodded again.

"But Lonny," Dennis said, looking his way. "You seem to have left Sherrie by herself, right?"

Lonny shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Uh, yes sir, I did."

"Why was that?" Dennis asked.

Lonny glanced at Sherrie and then back at Dennis and said, "Well, you see, Dennis. There was this girl I was meeting up with and it was getting so late. I figured Sherrie would be OK without me, you know?"

Dennis nodded. "OK, then, Lonny. And uh, you'd didn't plan on Sherrie meeting up with anyone else that night?"

Sherrie looked over at Lonny in confusion.

Lonny wrinkled his brow. "No, Dennis."

"You didn't tell Sherrie that you knew somebody had called asking about her?"

Sherrie slapped her hands on the arms of the chair. "I knew it!" She cried to Lonny. "I knew you were up to something!"

"Up to what?" Dennis inquired to Sherrie.

Before she could answer, Lonny spoke first. "I had been teasing Sherrie all night about how I knew Paul Gill had called asking about her. About when she works and what time she gets off. But I didn't tell her it was Paul. I was just messing with her, you know."

"That's Paul Gill as in Stacee Jaxx's manager, right, Lonny?" Dennis asked rhetorically. "So did it ever dawn on you to wonder why he was calling about her?"

Sherrie felt like she wasn't even in the room with the way the two men were talking about her. She listened as Lonny went on to explain.

"Well, yeah. I figured Stacee had took an interest in Sherrie and he had Paul call us up to find out more about her. I honestly thought it was funny, man. I just wanted to give her a hard time, that's all. Nothing came of it." Lonny paused and looked from Dennis to Sherrie. "Did it?" he asked her, nervously.

Sherrie bit her lip and looked down at the floor.

"It seems that Mr. Jaxx was waiting for Sherrie outside. Isn't that right, Sherrie?" Dennis asked.

Sherrie nodded. Lonny's mouth dropped open.

"Tell me, Sherrie." Dennis asked. "Was he alone waiting for you?"

She nodded again. She hated how this sounded like a police interrogation.

"Yes, he was there." Sherrie said. "He was alone. At first he scared the crap out of me! But then we got to be talking and we hung out for awhile." She shrugged. "What's the big deal?"

Lonny was beside himself. "_You_ went on a date with Stacee Jaxx?" He exclaimed.

Sherrie shook her head. "It wasn't a _date_, Lonny."

"I can't believe you're going with Stacee Jaxx!"

"I'm not going with Stacee Jaxx!"

"Sure sounds like it to me. Did he seal the deal?"

"Lonny! Please!"

"He did, didn't he? I never thought you to be that kind of girl…"

"Lonny…Sherrie…" Dennis tried to make them stop arguing but to no avail.

"I am NOT that kind of girl! How dare you say such a thing…"

"Oh, you gonna make him work for it, huh? He'll probably like you even more…"

"Lonny…Sherrie…" Dennis tried again.

"Oh, shut up, you British dope!"

"Oh, ouch. That hurt, you cheap groupie!"

"LONNY! SHERRIE!" Dennis voice boomed. "Knock it off! Right now!"

Both Sherrie and Lonny crossed their arms and sulked in their chairs. They could fight like brother and sister at times.

After a moment of silence, Dennis told Lonny he was excused. As he walked by Sherrie to leave he muttered, "Slut" to which she muttered back, "Limey bastard."

"Knock it off. Get out of here, Lonny." Dennis said. Once he was gone, Dennis focused his attention on Sherrie.

"Look, Sherrie." Dennis began, his voice suddenly soft. "I've known Stacee a long time and…well…he's a cool guy. A little bit strange, but an all-around cool guy. But the thing is…well…he treats women like Cracker Jack candy, you know. Once he's done with you it's on to the next one and I really don't want to see you get hurt."

"I didn't sleep with him, Dennis." Sherrie stated as she looked him straight in the face. "Honest to God, I did not sleep with him."

Dennis nodded his head. "I know and I believe you. It's just you've got to be careful what you choose to believe when Stacee tells you something. I'm not saying he's a liar…it's just...He has a way of wooing the ladies and he can be rather charming when he wants to be. I just don't want you to get your hopes up, OK?"

"OK." Sherrie replied.

"Now," Dennis said. "You're probably wondering how I found out about all of this. I got a call from Stacee himself today. He's says he's coming back here to do a show on the 15th. That's about a week away. He has offered his all his pay from the show to go toward the club. Do you realize how much that kind of money could help us out right now?"

"Yes," Sherrie said.

"But the catch is…he told me you have to do a song with him. Is that right, Sherrie? Did you say you would sing with him?"

"I tried to say no," Sherrie explained. "But he wouldn't listen. So I guess I have to now, huh?"

Dennis sighed. He rubbed the temples on his forehead. "I don't know, Sherrie. I mean, you definitely can sing. There's no doubt about that. But I just don't like this…I don't like him going to this extreme…just to get in your pants."

Sherrie waved it off. "With all due respect, Dennis, I don't think that's what Stacee's intentions are. He told me he likes my voice and wants me to get some exposure."

Dennis laughed. "Yeah, that's what he wants you think."

Sherrie shook her head. "I swear, it's true!"

"OK," Dennis said. "I'm gonna let this happen. I'm probably gonna regret it, but I can't worry about that now. Just do me a favor, will you, Sherrie? Don't go out with Stacee Jaxx anymore. No matter what he says or does to try to convince you; just don't go, OK? I really like the guy but I don't trust him around you."

"OK." Sherrie said. "I won't." And she meant it.


	10. Sign on The Dotted Line

**Hi Everybody! I'm so sorry I've taken forever to update. I've been busy with school but now that I'm on break I'll be able to update more often. Thank you so much for all the feedback and for adding the story to your favorites! I'm flattered you like it! :D **

Chapter Ten: Sign on the Dotted Line

As Sherrie trailed behind Drew and the rest of the band down the halls of Capitol Records she was in awe of all the gold and platinum framed records. Artists such as: Queen, Heart, Billy Idol, Iron Maiden, Poison, and Arsenal decorated the walls. Sherrie had forgotten Arsenal was on Capitol Records and had been their biggest rock money-maker for years.

They were being led into a big conference room by a middle aged man named Paul Gill. With his hideous mullet hair he had going on and a tacky suit that resembled the color of a DMV's walls, Paul looked like a sleazy used car salesman than a music agent/manager.

When he was introduced to Sherrie, he gave her a puzzled look and scratched his balding head.

"Sherrie Christian?" he asked. "Have we met before?"

She shook her head carefully. "Um…No, sir. I don't think we have." It came out more like a question than a statement.

"Huh," Paul said. "I could swear I've heard your name before somewhere."

"She sometimes sings at The Bourbon Room. She's amazing!" Drew injected and shot her a wink. Sherrie smiled back at him and then got serious again when she looked back at Paul. The man made her nervous.

"Oh, well isn't that just cute." Paul said flippantly. "Tell Dennis I said hi." The way he said it was so snarky that Sherrie immediately furrowed her brow. What did this Paul have against Dennis?

They all were seated in the conference room in oversized plush chairs on wheels. Paul pulled out some paperwork from a filing cabinet and sat down and flipped through the pages like he was the president going to veto a bill.

"OK, guys…" Paul began and glanced up at Sherrie and added, "And girl. This is basically a development deal. What that means is I will build your act from the ground up. We'll get some songs written…do you write your own music?"

Drew nodded.

"Of course you do," Paul replied. "So we'll look over the songs, write some more, cut a demo. We'll work on an image for the group…Drew, did you ever replace your lead singer or are you gonna be the front man?"

"Oh, no." Drew said and gestured toward Sherrie. "That's gonna be Sherrie, here. I thought you knew she was our new singer?"

Paul glanced at Sherrie. She smiled timidly in his direction. He turned back to Drew.

"Oh. My mistake…I thought your girlfriend was just tagging along." Sherrie winced at Paul's sarcasm. He considered Sherrie for a moment and then said, "I don't know about this…"

"What's the problem?" Drew asked.

"A chick rock singer? I don't know if that's what the public wants right now. It could work but it also could be too big of risk to take."

"It's not that risky," George, the bassist, spoke up. "What about Debbie Harry or Joan Jett?"

Paul snickered. "My son, yeah, you have a point. But those broads haven't had a decent hit in about five years or more. And I'm not sure that…" He turned to Sherrie now. "I don't think Miss Sherrie here is the next Debbie Harry or Joan Jett anyway…Are you?"

All eyes were on her now. "Um…" Sherrie began. "I…uh…well, no. No, sir. I don't think I could ever compare to those ladies. I…uh -"

"You're kind of shy, aren't you?" Paul asked.

"Um, yeah…yes. Kind of. But really, Mr. Gill. I can perform. I'm not afraid of the stage."

"Good and please call me Paul." Paul said. "Can't afford to be afraid. This a tough business, you understand?"

Sherrie nodded. "Yes, Mr. G-…Paul."

Paul turned back to the rest of the group. "And I'm telling that to you guys too. This will not be some cake walk. This is will take time, effort, and money. And notice I used the word _business_. This is, ultimately at the end of the day, a business. What is a business's main objective? Profit. Money. And lots of it. More money should come back than what was put into a project, understand?"

Paul then went over some the contract details to which most of Sherrie didn't understand. Drew and the other guys seemed to get was going on but Sherrie had a gut wrenching feeling growing inside her. She gently tapped Drew's shoulder and whispered to him to step out the room with her.

"Isn't this awesome?" Drew exclaimed when they were alone.

Sherrie hesitated. "Drew…It all sounds so good, but…"

"But what?"

Sherrie sighed. "I don't know…That Paul guy in there. He kind gives me the creeps."

Drew laughed. "Yeah, he doesn't have the best taste in hair or clothes, huh?"

Sherrie giggled and then said, "Not that but…I don't know. He gives off this bad vibe. He just seems in it for the money and plus, he's kind of rude. Did you hear all those little smart-assy comments he made?"

Drew took her hands in his. "Yeah, but baby, listen. You heard the man. The music business is a business. It's not all glitz and glam all the time. We have to make the label money or they will drop us. Plus, you have to overlook the criticism. You need to develop some thicker skin if you're gonna be in show business, or it will eat you alive."

Sherrie felt the warmth of Drew's hands on hers. She peered into his deep brown eyes and saw so much hope and confidence in them that she couldn't bear to let him down.

"OK," she agreed reluctantly. "But are you sure you know what we're getting into?"

He smiled. "Trust me, Sherrie. Paul has been doing this a long time and also, he manages Arsenal. We are in good hands, trust me."

"Arsenal?" Sherrie asked. She recalled the night she had spent with Stacee on the Hollywood sign and remembered him mentioning a "Paul". _Oh my god, Arsenal. Stacee. __We're gonna have the same manager as Stacee!_

"Yeah! I mean, we're talking _the _Stacee Jaxx here!" Drew exclaimed. "Wouldn't it be so cool if we got to meet him?" He put his arm around Sherrie and started to lead her back into the conference room.

All Sherrie could think of to say was: "Uh…yeah. It would be cool to meet him." She wanted to kick herself from keeping the truth from Drew and knew she had to tell him soon. As she bent over to the sign the contract she secretly hoped she wasn't signing her life away.


	11. I'm Always Here For You

Chapter Eleven: I'm Always Here For You

"OK, Mary Beth," Sherrie said as she opened her apartment door. "What's the big emergency?" Her roommate had called the Bourbon and begged Dennis to let Sherrie come home early after claiming she was in dire need of Sherrie's assistance. At first Sherrie had been alarmed but when she spoke to Mary Beth over the phone at the club Mary refused to tell Sherrie what was going on. "Just come home…and quickly!" Mary Beth had whispered excitedly.

Sherrie hung up her purse and called out: "Mary? Mary Beth?"

"I'm in the kitchen." Mary answered.

"OK, what's the big deal? Somebody stick a $100 dollar bill in your thong at work or something?" Sherrie teased as she walked toward the kitchen. She heard Mary Beth laughing but could of sworn she heard somebody else's laugher as well.

"Well, not exactly." Mary said. "But I'm sure our guest here could if he wanted to."

As Sherrie turned the corner to walk into the kitchen she opened her mouth to tease Mary Beth again but instead her mouth fell open. Sitting there at the kitchen counter was Stacee Jaxx and Mary Beth with a look that read partly amused and partly _I'm-going-to-kill-you-later-for-not-telling-me-any-of-this_.

"Oh." It was all Sherrie could find to say. "Hi…Stacee."

Stacee nodded her in direction. "Sherrie. Long time; no see." He was dressed down again like the night they had gone to the Hollywood sign together. "It's been…uh…interesting meeting your roommate, Miss Mary, Mary Quite Contrary over here.." He rolled his eyes toward her in a playful way.

Mary Beth giggled and waved him off. "Oh, no, Sherrie. It's been _very_ interesting to me meeting your secret pal, Stacee Jaxx."

Sherrie felt like she need to sit down but there were only two bar stools. As if he read her mind Stacee extended his arm out to her.

"Here," he said. "Come sit down."

Sherrie shook her head no and tried to say "I'll just stand" but Stacee caught her hand and made her sit on his lap. Sherrie turned to face Mary Beth, who was looking at Sherrie like she could burst out laughing in minute. Sherrie tried her best to send a message to Mary with her eyes to shut up. However, the message was ill received.

"So, we were just talking about how you two met." Mary said looking square at Sherrie. "And about how I had no idea you met again since then. _No idea_." She stressed; her eyes narrowing.

"Yeah, well." Sherrie began. "I…uh…well…" She turned her head slightly to glance back at Stacee for help on how to explain all of this but he seemed to shrug not only with his shoulders with his dark brown eyes. Sherrie figured Stacee didn't know how to explain it either.

"Well, it all happened so fast, you know." Sherrie said to Mary Beth. "We've really only met a couple of times."

"Uh-huh." Mary grunted. The way one leg was crossed over the other and the way she was leaning forward with her elbow resting on her knee and her hand cupped underneath her chin, Sherrie thought Mary Beth might as well been Barbara Walters and this was 20/20.

"Look, I really didn't mean to inconvenience you ladies." Stacee said. "I just wanted to talk to you again, Sherrie."

Sherrie turned her head toward Stacee and said, "No, it's not a problem…it's just so…unexpected…and what did you want to talk about?" She then became aware of a warm sensation on her hands and realized he had been holding her hands the whole time and gently rubbing her palms.

"About the show coming up. This weekend at the Bourbon, remember? We're still singing together, right?" Stacee asked.

A fake round coughs came from Mary Beth and both Sherrie and Stacee glanced over at her. She looked up at them as she was surprised to see them there and waved them off.

"Oh, don't mind me." Mary commented. "Just a little tickle in my throat." She abruptly stood and stretched her arms out over her head and then let them drop to her sides.

"I'm just gonna step out for a minute." She gestured toward the door. "I'll let you two…uh…catch up." As Mary Beth turned to leave, Sherrie hopped out of Stacee's lap and called out:

"You don't have to go, Mary. It's fine if you stay."

All Sherrie could hear was Mary Beth's demanding reply of "No, no, no. You stay. I'll be back." and then she heard the door open and close. A brief silence filled the apartment for a few minutes.

"I'm really sorry, Sherrie. I shouldn't have done this to you." Stacee finally spoke softly.

She turned around and saw he was hanging his head. She walked over and sat down on the other barstool. She ran her fingers through her curly blonde hair and sighed.

"You know," she began. "This is getting kind of creepy, Stacee. If you were anybody else I probably would have got a restraining order by now."

He snickered. She was teasing and he could tell. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. I take it you told her we've only met once, right?" He asked indicating Mary Beth.

Sherrie nodded. "Yeah. I know I should have told her but I thought for sure she would never believe me! I mean, she would have never believed that you and I went…" Sherrie paused and her eyes widened a bit. "Wait. Did you tell her about the Hollywood sign?"

Stacee shook his head no.

"I only told her that we had met at the Bourbon a few times and that is true…. for the most part." He smiled that infectious smile of his that made it impossible for her not to smile back. There was something about him that made her squirm inside, but in a good way.

"So…are we still on for Saturday night?" He asked.

"Um…yeah…I guess so. I did promise Dennis I would." She answered.

"Forget Dennis. You promised me, remember?" He reached over and played with a strand of her hair. She could feel her cheeks flush and it felt like a hundred caterpillars had suddenly blossomed into butterflies all at once in her stomach.

"Yeah, I did promise you." She whispered as she reached up and placed her hand on top of his. As Sherrie held the gaze with Stacee for awhile an image of Drew popped into her head. She turned away abruptly feeling like she was betraying Drew and she then remembered the deal the group had just signed.

"Hey, Stacee" Sherrie began. "You'll never guess what happened the other day."

"Tell me."

Sherrie explained to Stacee all about Drew, George, and Max and becoming apart of Wolfgang Von Colt, Capitol Records, the development deal and lastly, Paul.

"Are you shittin' me, girl?" Stacee asked incredulously.

Sherrie shrugged in response.

Stacee burst out in such a laughter that Sherrie couldn't tell if he was laughing at the whole situation in general or at her.

"Oh my god," He laughed. "That's insane. So…you met the omniscient Paul Gill, huh?"

"No offense." She said. "But he's kind of….he's kind of…oh…what's the word…"

"A scum-ball?" He suggested. "A prick? A douche bag?"

Sherrie giggled. "Well, I wouldn't put in those words but…yeah."

"Oh, honey. You're too kind." Stacee commented. "Paul is nothing but a miserable pain in the ass."

Sherrie cocked her head to one side in confusion. "So why is he still your manager?"

"Because he knows what he's doing. Besides, he's like my little bitch. I just say 'jump' and he says 'how high?'. It's fantastic."

Sherrie laughed. "Oh, OK. Well, then…but do you think we did the right thing? Signing with Paul?"

Stacee sighed. "Honestly, I don't know, my dear. I don't know what the contract said. Those things have so many clauses in them you need a magnifying glass to find them all."

Sherrie immediately began to panic inside.

"Oh, I just had this feeling we shouldn't have signed it…I just figured Drew and the rest of the guys knew what was going on and…"

Stacee held up his hand. "Relax, Sherrie. I didn't say you guys are screwed. I'm just saying I don't know what a development deal really is. Back when Arsenal was signed there was no such thing as a development deal as far as I knew. They either liked you or they didn't. They didn't waste time trying to "develop" you in to what they wanted you to be."

Sherrie's eyes widened. "Do you think that's what's going to happen? Is Paul going to take control over us?"

Stacee ran his fingers through his hair. Sherrie sensed it was tough for him to try to explain.

"Honestly, I can't say. I don't know. But don't let it worry you. And I'm not too far away. I'm here if you need me." And with that he stood and reached in his pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and handed it to her.

"I gotta go. See you Saturday night." His hand gently brushed over hers as walked by.

"Bye, Stacee." Sherrie said. Soon she heard the door open and close and the apartment was filled the awkward silence again. She carefully unfolded the piece of paper and saw a number written on there.

Later that night, Sherrie lay in bed and remembered sitting on Stacee's lap and his hands holding hers and just the way he seemed to look at her like she was the only woman alive.

She curled up in the fetal position, hugging her knees as close to her chest as she could, trying to deny the attraction she felt toward Stacee, trying to remind herself that he was just some crazy rock star that knew how to turn all women into silly putty while in his presence, trying to tell herself that she promised Dennis to stay away from Stacee, and that she had a good guy in Drew Boley.

Drew Boley. The guy that she had so much in common with, the guy that shared the same dream with her, the guy that had held her and told she wasn't a failure; that she was going to make it. She closed her eyes tightly and tried to picture the night she had spent with Drew on Santa Monica pier but could only see Stacee looking out over L.A. on top of the Hollywood sign. She must have drifted off to sleep because she woke up a few hours later to the sound of Mary Beth coming in. Sherrie had wondered where her roommate had disappeared to for so long. She listened to Mary Beth fumbling around in the dark and Sherrie flipped on the lamp beside her bed.

"Oh, sorry. Wrong room." mumbled Mary. Her eyes were squinting at Sherrie, trying to adjust to the sudden light. She turned to leave but Sherrie stopped her.

"Mary, wait." Sherrie said.

Mary Beth hesitated. She slowly turned around to face Sherrie. Sherrie rose up and kicked the covers off and swung her legs over the side of the bed.

"No, Sherrie." Mary Beth said coming toward her. "Just stay there." Mary came over and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Look, I'm really sorry I didn't tell you about Stacee." Sherrie began. "And honestly, it's been so crazy! He kind of just…shows up sometimes. Honestly. And I know I should of told you sooner, but…"

Mary Beth held up her hand. "It's OK, Sherrie."

"No, listen to me." Sherrie went on. "Look, there was one night he showed up waiting for me outside the Bourbon Room and then he took me for a ride on his motorcycle. We went to the Hollywood sign together."

"Sherrie…" Mary tried again.

"No, Mary. You have to believe me! We hung out up there all night long and he told me how much he likes my singing and wants me to do a song with him and…"

"Sherrie, please!" Mary Beth cried. "Yes, yes. I believe you. Trust me. After tonight, I'll believe _anything_ you've got to say, _trust me_. I believe you. It's just so shocking…you know? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I told you," Sherrie said. "I thought you wouldn't believe me."

Mary Beth considered this for a moment and then whispered: "Yeah, you're probably right. I wouldn't have believed it. But you know what? It's not like you owe me an explanation or anything. I'm just…I'm just your roommate after all."

There was such a sudden sad tone in Mary's voice that Sherrie felt a sharp pang inside.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked.

"Oh, it's…nothing." Mary Beth said looking at the carpeted floor. "Never mind."

Sherrie shifted and rearranged herself on the bed so she could face Mary Beth better. She took her hand in hers.

"Mary," Sherrie whispered. "You are more than just a roommate to me. You're…like family to me. You were like the first person I met when I came out here."

"You were pitiful." Mary Beth teased. "Little Okie girl lost in the big city."

"Yeah," Sherrie laughed. "And it was you.." she pointed her finger at Mary Beth. "It was _you_ that helped this poor, pitiful little Okie girl find her way. You've become like the sister I never had."

Mary Beth finally looked up then and Sherrie could tell she had tears brimming in her eyes.

"Thanks, Sherrie." Mary Beth said. "I never had much of a family at all and you know…I never really knew my dad and my mom was always gone and my brothers and sisters were all older and gone all the time too and…well you don't want to hear the whole sob story again, do you?"

"It's OK." Sherrie said.

"Well, I don't really want to relive it." replied Mary Beth, wiping her eyes. "But anyway, yeah. I feel like you really have a good heart, Sherrie. I know you tease me but I also know you don't judge me for what I do or where I've been. You see the good in people always. And that's a special quality to have. I'm always here for you, you know."

Sherrie grinned widely and reached over and gave Mary Beth a tight hug.

"Aw, you mean the world me, sweetie." Sherrie said.

When they pulled away, Mary Beth wiped her eyes one last time and then said:

"OK, but going back to the subject of Stacee Jaxx. Seriously, Sherrie. I think the man has got it bad for you."

Sherrie groaned and flopped down on the bed with her arm over her eyes. She didn't want to think about it anymore.

"I don't know what to do, Mary."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…I don't know. I know he likes me but…how do I know it's not just a game he's playing?"

"Well, how do you know that Stew isn't playing a game with you?"

Sherrie rose up and looked at Mary like she was crazy. "Stew? You mean _Drew_. And Drew is a far cry from Stacee."

Mary Beth shrugged. "Well, yeah. Maybe right now. But what about when you guys start getting famous? What then? How do you know he won't run off with some groupie or two? Fame goes to everybody's head. Not just to Stacee Jaxx's head. And to be honest, I think a lot of it is just a persona with him. I mean, I only spent like…what?…fifteen to twenty minutes with Stacee and he actually seems pretty chill to me. Not at all what I would have expected."

"No." whispered Sherrie. "He wasn't what I expected either."

Mary Beth started tugging on Sherrie's arm. "_Woo…_How about that? Sherrie and Stacee sitting in a tree/K-I-S-S-I-N-G…"

Sherrie groaned and rolled over face down on the bed. "I haven't told Drew." She mumbled more to the sheets than to Mary Beth.

"At all?" Mary Beth asked. "Drew doesn't know you know Stacee?"

"No. I should tell him, huh?"

"I don't see why not?" answered Mary. "You have nothing to be ashamed of."

"I know." Sherrie said. "I just feel like if I tell Drew he will know…"

"Know what?" Mary Beth inquired.

"That he will see that I really, really like Stacee too."

"Oh please. Every chick in a ten mile radius likes Stacee Jaxx. Drew has to know that and he won't care."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely." concluded Mary Beth. "It won't be a big deal if you tell him. Hell, he'll probably think it's pretty bad ass and he'll be jealous just like me. But between you and me, I wouldn't write off Stacee so quickly. Just because he's this big star and all doesn't mean that it couldn't work out with you two."

"Oh, Mary. Get real." Sherrie groaned.

"Seriously, girl! Hey, I saw the way he was holding your hand! You should get to know him better."

"And run around behind Drew's back with Stacee? I don't think so, Mary Beth. And Dennis told me to keep away from him. He thinks Stacee has bad intentions."

"I'm not saying you should cheat on Drew." Mary Beth said. " But after all, are you really that serious with him? Have you even slept with him yet?"

Sherrie rolled over to face Mary Beth. "No. We haven't. But I have a feeling he will want to very soon. We haven't even done the "I love you" exchange yet but I'm sure that's coming soon too."

"Well then, see?" Mary Beth said. "You haven't moved too fast with Drew and that's good. It kind of sounds like you're not sure how you feel about him."

"I don't know…" Sherrie answered. "I know I really like Drew. He's the sweetest guy I've ever known. I feel like I can really trust him, you know? But sometimes I feel like we're just good friends. I mean, he's really cute and all but when I look at Stacee…I feel like I could just melt into a puddle right there. I don't know if that's love or lust or what it is."

Mary Beth yawned and stretched her arms. "Sorry, honey." She told Sherrie. "You're not boring me; I just need get in bed. But all I'm saying is don't rush into anything with Drew. And don't write off Stacee. Who cares what Dennis the Menace thinks? You just go with your gut instinct on this, OK?"

"OK," Sherrie said. "Thanks, Mary Beth."

"Goodnight, sweetie pie." and Mary left the room.

Sherrie got under her covers and reached over and turned out the light.


End file.
